Question about the KaBar Becker BK62 Kephart

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Transmaster

Transmaster

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I happened to run across Horace Kephart's books on Camping and woodcraft, and his Camp Cookery book which was published in 1910. These books are in Kindle edition so I have his cookbook and his Camping and Woodcraft books. Looking at the Camp Cookery book I might just have found recipes my Great Grandmother Crips might have used. When I see recipes calling for "desiccated" milk I know I am close.

My question, Horace Kephart designed (c.1900) what he thought was the ideal backcountry utility knife. The Kephart sheath knife was hand forged by the Colclesser Brothers in Pennsylvania. There are only 2 examples remaining in existence. Given its popularity in the early 1900's my Outfitter Great Grandfather Billings might have had one. Ethan Becker of Becker Knife & Tool has the only Kephart sheath knife in private hands. The other example is held by the Western Carolina University Mountain Heritage Center. Their example is very worn. The one in Ethan Beckers hands is in pristine aged patinated condition Ethan Becker and KaBar used it to produce an modern exact copy. The bottom line is I want one. I am very cautious with counterfeits. This knife purchased from KaBar is $232.29. The same knife from the KaBar store on Amazon is $159.30. Is the one sold on Amazon from the KaBar store the real deal. I am suspicious of the cheaper price.

Something I was just thinking of. On the paternal side of my family there were a lot of rancher Swedes. I am wondering now is what I thought were Scandinavian Puukko knives where actually Kephart sheath knives.

This is the Original owned by Ethan Becker. I have the kindle edition of the book it is resting on.
IMG_3814-M.jpg


This is the Becker/Kabar replica

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No one wants to say it but the Kephart is a self-guard handed Dadley butcher knife. Ethan and I are long time friends. I had a chance to buy that knife before he did but decided it would be in better hands with Ethan. Given how few of the knives still exist I kind of question how many were actually made.
 
Noodle Soup said:
No one wants to say it but the Kephart is a self-guard handed Dadley butcher knife. Ethan and I are long time friends. I had a chance to buy that knife before he did but decided it would be in better hands with Ethan. Given how few of the knives still exist I kind of question how many were actually made.
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That is interesting on another knife forum one person who had knowledge of Kephart's knives said that what he actually used was an Ontario Knife Company Fish and small game knife. Thanks You just saved me money to spend on another knife. I was wondering about the numbers as well. If it was so popular there would be more of them. This is sad I just learned that OKC closed down last July.

Screenshot 2024-04-01 at 15.18.12.png
 
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This has been very educational. The knowledge base this forum has is a real treasure. This brought me back to my black powder shooting days. In Wyoming this is a Green River knife. There were several sizes and blade variations But the politically incorrect generic name for them was a scalping knife. There are several knife smiths in Wyoming that hand make exact copies of Green River Knives, that is were I will go.
 
Don't get me wrong, the Kephart is a great all purpose camp kitchen knife. Most of the custom copies out there are too thick in the blade. The original is thin like any commercial butcher knife.
 
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Noodle Soup said:
Don't get me wrong, the Kephart is a great all purpose camp kitchen knife. Most of the custom copies out there are too thick in the blade. The original is thin like any commercial butcher knife.
Click to expand...
I purchased two of OKC Fish and small game knife from Amazon. OKC did not go out of business but was purchased and is moving to Virginia. Instead of $239 bucks from KaBar I spent $58 bucks for 2 of the OKC's from Amazon.

The Specs:
Overall Length: 8.70 in.
Blade Length: 4.00 in.
Cutting Edge Length: 3.875 in.
Blade Thickness: 0.079. in.
Blade Width:
Blade Material: 1095 Carbon Steel
Blade Hardness: 55-57 HRC
Blade Style: Spear Point
Blade Grind: Full Flat Bevel
Blade Finish: Gray
Edge Type: PlainEdge
Handle Length: 4.70 in.
Handle Thickness: 0.70 in.
Handle Material: Hickory Wood
Handle Color: Brown
Weight:
Sheath: Leather Belt Sheath
 
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Noodle Soup said:
Don't get me wrong, the Kephart is a great all purpose camp kitchen knife. Most of the custom copies out there are too thick in the blade. The original is thin like any commercial butcher knife.
Click to expand...
The reviews on this OKC knife are very happy with its thin blade for food prep, but it is still tough enough for other camp chores. Bushmen purchased used OKC butcher knives and they ground them to the now called Kephart blade form. OKC noticed this and came out with a factory version.
 
Have been watching Youtubes about the KaBar Kephart, When it is compared to the OKC Fish and small game knife. The OKC usually comes out on top. It is the handle and the thinner blade the makes it better. As I fill in my knowledge of the Kephart knife, it really harkens to the Green River knives used by Trappers in my part of the world, Wyoming. Like the Green River knives the Kephart is another knife used by outdoorsman, or as we called them frontiersmen. This makes me wish I had knowledge of what My Great Grandmother Crips used for kitchen knives. What I have seen of Chuckwagon cooks at the time she was doing this was French Chef's knives that could have doubled as a short sword.
 
Transmaster said:
That is interesting on another knife forum one person who had knowledge of Kephart's knives said that what he actually used was an Ontario Knife Company Fish and small game knife. Thanks You just saved me money to spend on another knife. I was wondering about the numbers as well. If it was so popular there would be more of them. This is sad I just learned that OKC closed down last July.

View attachment 312202
Click to expand...
Transmaster said:
That is interesting on another knife forum one person who had knowledge of Kephart's knives said that what he actually used was an Ontario Knife Company Fish and small game knife. Thanks You just saved me money to spend on another knife. I was wondering about the numbers as well. If it was so popular there would be more of them. This is sad I just learned that OKC closed down last July.

View attachment 312202
Click to expand...
The OKC fish and game is handy dandy knife. I have two of them, and they are my goto camping and woods knives.
 
Taurahe said:
The OKC fish and game is handy dandy knife. I have two of them, and they are my goto camping and woods knives.
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As near as I can tell OKC started making this fish and Game knife around 1920 and have been making it every since. As I said up thread what I always thought was a Finnish Sámi Puukko may have been one of these Fish and Game knifes. The Puukko, and the larger Leuku Knife is the Sámi version of the Fish and Game knife. It has been their standard knives for centuries.

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23LL_in-sheath-600x600.jpg
 
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I have succumbed to temptation, I will have the Kabar BK62 on Saturday. With what I have learned the Becker-Kephart knife on Amazon is the real deal, and at $159.30 the cheapest. It will be interesting to compare the BK62 with the OKC Fish and Small game knife.
 
Transmaster said:
I have succumbed to temptation, I will have the Kabar BK62 on Saturday. With what I have learned the Becker-Kephart knife on Amazon is the real deal, and at $159.30 the cheapest. It will be interesting to compare the BK62 with the OKC Fish and Small game knife.
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The KABAR Kephart is a lot closer to the historical one. Like I said, I handled Ethan's before he bought it. I also own one of the KABAR models.
 
Been digging into the Colclesser Brothers. It would seem what was informally called The Colclesser Brothers tool company Stopped operation with the death of Samuel Colclesser in 1919. They were mostly known for axes and picks. They produced all kinds of knives on order. Reading the outdoor magazines c.1900 it would seem the Marble Dewesse pattern hunting knife was more popular at the time,or at least more widely available.

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Transmaster said:
Been digging into the Colclesser Brothers. It would seem what was informally called The Colclesser Brothers tool company Stopped operation with the death of Samuel Colclesser in 1919. They were mostly known for axes and picks. They produced all kinds of knives on order. Reading the outdoor magazines c.1900 it would seem the Marble Dewesse pattern hunting knife was more popular at the time,or at least more widely available.

View attachment 312452
Click to expand...
The are certainly a lot more of the Marble's still around than the Kepharts.
 
Reading up on Willian Dallas "Dall" DeWeese, and interesting person. His Deweese pattern field utility knife was designed for use in Alaska. In Alaska horses were not used in the backcountry, if you could not get there on a canoe you hoofed it his knife was designed to be a light as possible and still do the job. I suppose in the near future I will get a Deweese pattern knife so I can have the 2 designs mentioned in the outdoor magazines 100 plus years ago.
 
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